Death
by gummybear1620
Summary: Team 7 is a bond that can never be broken. No matter who or what tries, in the end, they will survive above everything that has tried to tear them apart, because sometimes it just takes a little time to bring everyone together. Mild, if any, tragedy.


**A/N: This is my second one-shot, Death. Somewhat morbid, but don't let the title scare you away. It's basically what the summary says: there are four perspectives, each in first person (and they're sorta talking to us, the readers), and we get to see what each person is thinking and feels in the afterlife. The quote at the beginning pretty much tells you who the person is, I think :P and each quote is like a mini-theme for their section. There's an overall theme –ish thing hidden in Death, so look out for it while you read ;) **

**I hope you enjoy it! I worked hard on it, so read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: No time to think up a flashy disclaimer, so I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Death<strong>

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><p>"<em>In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."<em>

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><p>I was the first to die.<p>

That was probably to be expected, though. I was older than my pupils anyway, so naturally I would be the one to depart first. But nobody really wants to die, and neither did I, so I ignored that particular fact.

And I could, easily getting lost in the peaceful days of Team 7: babysitting Naruto, Sakura, and not really Sasuke while reading my beloved books. The missions were easy, hardly worth trying on, and I could forget the pain and ache of my childhood and my father, instead focusing on something I'd decided was much more important—seeing the people who had come to replace Rin and Obito and Minato grow up, _help _them grow up.

I thought it was just so ironic at first. Sure, these little kids were idiots and annoying, but something about them reminded me about us. You know, Obito? I think it all started when I asked them to introduce themselves that first day.

Sasuke, well, I suppose he was me. A stickler for the rules, accomplished to the smallest detail. If he had remained in Konoha, he could very well have been made ANBU earlier than me; he was that smart. Then again, if he had stayed, many things would be different now. Sakura and Naruto wouldn't be suffering, for one.

But anyway, I think we all know who Naruto is. I always thought Uchihas were stuck-up, arrogant people (proven by Sasuke and his father and their poor, traitorous clan) but Obito was different. He changed me; he was as unselfish as he was generous. I'm glad I put his eye to good use—it wasn't a waste after all.

Rin would have to be Sakura then. She didn't have Tsunade's monster strength, thankfully, but she did train in medical ninjutsu and have a crush on me. Our little lopsided, two-way love triangle was imitated in Team 7 once again; Sakura loved Sasuke and Naruto liked Sakura. I swear Fate had it out for me…

I can't say I was the role model teacher the Fourth Hokage was, even though I was chosen to replace Danzo as Rokudaime. That's one notable mark of my already notable career, I guess. Sometimes, I wonder if it would've been better to be mediocre, plain, blending into the background, without the Sharingan; I wouldn't have been targeted so much, and I wouldn't have had to die so early.

Now you want to know all the horrific details of my death, correct? Well, I can't blame you. After I lingered around for a bit before being called to the afterlife, where I am now, I overheard some saying that it was probably the most remarkable battle of the whole war. I don't know about that, and I'm not just being modest. I'm sure Naruto is more than capable of showing off his new abilities, and the fight between Sasuke and Naruto will probably destroy a couple villages. Sakura also has the potential to produce some worth-watching battles. I think I've taught my students well.

Okay, I get it. You think I ramble too much, right? Remember, I _was _getting old-ish when I died, because being around thirty-something is old in the ninja world. Yes, I know you want to hear my gruesome death. I hate to disappoint you, but it wasn't actually all that terrifying.

Death is something nobody can escape. I've come to realize that, and I'm sure everyone who has died realized that too. It's the one thing everyone must suffer, whether it be via murder or peaceful old age. The wealthiest man cannot escape death, nor the most powerful. It is as inevitable as the tide itself.

When Death came for me, I was ready. I wouldn't exactly say I gave up without a fight, because I'm not a coward. But I had defeated one of the two most dangerous opponents in the war, and I figured that everything else would be okay. Naruto could take care of the other enemy. I had helped my friends survive, and that was all that mattered.

I left their world without saying goodbye. My injuries were too much for me, and in that brief moment when everyone was gone, I departed too.

My soul lingered around, if you could call it that. I was a ghost, something that surely would've freaked Naruto out if he could've seen me—but that was the problem; it seemed as if nobody could. I could see them, though, and it almost broke my heart to see them cry over me. I knew only too well the feeling of losing loved ones, and I'd promised myself never to love again. I even told that to Sasuke, if I remember correctly, that all my precious people were gone.

But somewhere along the way… Team 7 had found a new home inside my unrepaired heart, as sappy as that sounds. All three of them—obnoxious, pest, and loner—had rooted themselves inside me.

It almost hurt me as much as it hurt them to leave.

I watched them carry my body and bury it, not where all the other dead ninjas were buried, but on a hill. We weren't in Konoha, so they couldn't engrave my name onto the memorial stone, but honestly? I didn't want them to. I didn't want them to turn out like me, constantly spending their time there and being late because too many of their friends had died in a war like this. Well, that was if they survived too and made it back to the Leaf, eh?

Naruto and Sakura stayed the longest, not to my surprise. They held each other, not in a romantic way, but in the way friends comfort each other when both have lost something great. It kind of makes me selfishly happy that I had two people who cared for me so much.

Then, Obito, Rin, and Minato came for me.

It was just like that time I 'died' when Pein attacked, except there was no campfire with my father and no reconciliation with anyone. No, it was just my old team, my first bonds, who came up quietly behind me and smiled.

And then, well, I left.

…

Okay, more details, I get it. Pushy people, aren't you?

The world just kinda faded, I guess. The colors bleached away to black and darkness engulfed me. The last thing I saw was Naruto and Sakura before they too were taken away.

I admit it, I was a little afraid. Was this it for me? I thought. Just stay in this endless blackness until—forever? What had happened to my old team? Was that just a dream?

But no, it hadn't been. Gently, my former sensei touched my shoulder, and Rin and Obito soon appeared too in the darkness, lighting it up like a candle in a cave. And then, just as _your world _disappeared in a brush of black, the new world (where I'm talking to you now) brightened in a flash of color. It was almost like a miracle, in my eyes.

Now I suppose you want to know about the afterlife. Was I right? I was, wasn't I? Yes, I know I'm annoying, but trust me, you'd rather know this side of me than my serious side. The side that murders. Oh dear, I've appeared to have scared you… my apologies.

Well, I can't reveal too much of the promised afterlife or else someone 'up there' might smite me. What I can say is this—you _will _see everyone. Anyone who did good in their life, to amend that statement; not anyone as evil as Orochimaru, but you're right. Technically, he isn't even dead.

It's paradise in a way. Not half as amazing as Jiraiya's—oh, he's here too, and writing even more perverted novels for me—Icha Icha Paradise's paradise, but close. It's strangely relaxing to be able to just talk with people who you never thought you'd talk to again. That last conversation...wasn't the end after all.

That was the main reason I didn't bother to worry about the students I left behind. I knew they would show up soon enough, which was sad in a way, but time passes so much quicker here.

Maybe when Naruto shows up, he'll be an old man, ne? Having lived a long and successful life as Hokage, defeating enemies left and right, and maybe even sealing the Kyuubi away forever. If that does end up as his life, he very well deserves it.

Or he might appear one day soon, not so long from my chat with you. That would be unfortunate to say the least, especially if he _hadn't _been made Hokage. There's so much potential in Naruto, you have to know him to understand it.

But enough about Naruto. This _is _my story, for now, until he comes along.

I sense you have more questions. Do you think I know the answer to them all? I may be approaching the retiring age for most shinobi, but I'm not that old yet! Don't let my gray hair fool you, or my mask. Figurative and physical.

You already know my tale, my life. Many things happened in my childhood that taught me not to let others in, to keep my emotions locked away silently, to never abandon a mission. But just as so many events happened to make me think that, many things happened soon after that changed my opinion. I thought I could never show my face again after the catastrophe with my father, and I never did—but I learned to feel again. I was no longer a killing machine, and that made me quit the ANBU.

Then the most intriguing part of my life started: Team 7. Right off the bat, they captured my attention, most of all Naruto. It's true that their characters and love life might imitate my team's, but the paths they've chosen definitely follows their mentors' more—the sannin.

I'm sure you know all that history, but it never hurts to remember, does it? I was a teacher too, along with a shinobi! I have to know my facts.

It pained me to see Sasuke leave as Orochimaru did. Both could have turned out to be spectacular ninjas, great assets to Konoha, but their ambition was too much for our 'small' village. Even now, with Itachi supposedly dead (although I haven't seen him in the afterlife; maybe he's still alive as an edo tensai somewhere) Sasuke continues to pursue revenge. His goal only expands, and never shrinks.

Jiraiya and Naruto are as alike as Sasuke and Orochimaru were. Both trained in senjutsu, both with the same determination and 'gutsiness' Jiraiya likes to use. Both lost their friend and fought bitterly to get him back. He was a good teacher for Naruto and taught him that sometimes, the way to win isn't right in front of you, but inside you.

Sakura and Tsunade…well, many of their similarities lie in strength. Did you see Sakura's punch? It might hurt even more than Tsunade's! Medics are inhumanly strong. But besides that, their history is, thankfully, different. Sakura is strong, but even I don't know if she could've survived as Tsunade did through all the deaths she experienced.

Ha, haven't I wasted a lot of time. I guess I didn't have as much to say about me as I'd thought.

Oh, look! We have a newcomer. People here can always sense when someone new has arrived, which is unfortunately almost daily. It's someone important to me this time… Shall we go together to see who tells Team 7's story next?

But before we leave, remember this: my life may have been the type of life young ninjas dream of, but don't follow the path I did. Never cut off your emotions, for they are the lifeline to succeeding in a mission—in the end, teammates always matter more than the assignment.

At least, that's what I always said.

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><p>"<em>My resolve is nothing compared to his now! … I came here and I thought I was ready. But I can't do anything…I can't say anything. The only thing that remains for me…is to believe in them!"<em>

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><p>I guess, through my whole life, I always had those rose-colored glasses on.<p>

Even when I was a medic, treating injured people and the dead, I still had them on. Throughout everything, I remained somewhat positive—not half as positive as Naruto, of course, but I still had hope.

I thought everything would turn out okay in the end… Sasuke would come home, Akatsuki would be vanquished, Naruto would become Hokage—only _after _Tsunade lived a long, respectable life, of course—and, I admit it, I would marry someone handsome and dark. Maybe Sasuke, maybe not. I just wanted a happy life, you know, the fairytale princess stories with two nice, strong children and a dependable partner.

Was that such a crime, to want something so peaceful?

Apparently, if you live in the world of the shinobi, it is.

That's not to say I didn't have a happy life, of course. There were those moments, like when I helped Lady Chiyo defeat Sasori, and after I successfully healed the first injured person I ever tended to. But then there were also those darker memories: all the deaths, teachers and friends dying, unable to meet our final goal. Unable to grant my final hope, wish, dream.

So I guess I did live a somewhat happy life after all; Naruto's still alive, you know. He's still out there, and I hope he can live longer than I did. Sasuke too. Maybe Naruto still can bring him home, because this is where Sasuke belongs—with us.

I don't know what it's like, dying, for others, but for me? It was mostly painless. The war was still going on when I exited the living world, and all the medics were needed. I was sad I had to die, but it was simply my time. There's no other way to explain it, even though I was poisoned by a traitor. The world just decided it didn't want me anymore.

The thing that probably hurt the most was leaving all my precious people behind. Naruto, most of all. I can still recall those blue eyes pleading with me to stay, just stay a little longer, but... I had to go. I couldn't stay just for him; I couldn't stay for Ino, for Sasuke, for Tsunade, for anyone. The force pulling me was irresistible, and in the end I succumbed. I was weak.

But before I tell you about the rest of my journey, remember that I matured. I _was _a bit clingy, whiny, you name it when I was twelve, but face it. I thought the love of my life was leaving me and Naruto was nothing more than an annoyance. I've come to appreciate what I've got, to risk sounding like a corny romantic. Now, I know who I am. I am clearly defined, and in my opinion that is the perfect way to go.

That doesn't mean I wasn't scared. In fact, I was scared out of my mind! Not only scared of leaving all those people behind, but just…leaving. What was on the other side? Was there anything at all? Would anyone be waiting for me? Would I just fade into blackness, forgotten?

For a while, my fears went unconfirmed.

I lingered around in the place between the harsh world of the living and the paradise of the dead. With no particular place to go, I just went where the winds carried me, and that was eventually Konoha.

You could call me lucky, I suppose. The war had been nearing its end when I died—and we were the victors—so some of our forces had been sent back home. Another force had just been ready to leave when I died (as strange as that sounds, calling me dead), and they carried me home. I got to see my funeral and everything! I'd always imagined what it would look like.

Call me sick, psycho, weird, strange…they're all probably true. But it was more of a clinical fascination, you see. I just wanted to know what happened! I didn't want to see them crying for me. I didn't want to see Ino bring dozens of Sakura blossoms and scatter them across my coffin. I didn't want to see Tsunade, having returned too from the war, break down for the first time in years. This is what happens when we grow attached to things, to people. We have the power to hurt them, but the thing most tend to forget is that when we hurt our precious people, we are also hurting ourselves.

I wasn't strong enough after all. I left my friends, crying over a dead person who'd never return, and wandered away. Somewhere in my mind was the vague notion that I should find Naruto, Sasuke, see what they were doing. If I was stuck forever like this, I might as well make use of it.

But I didn't have a chance to do that before I was snatched away.

Oh, don't look so horrified! It wasn't half as bad as I made it sound. All souls, lost after their death, are 'claimed', usually by precious ones who had died long ago. In most people's cases, it would be their parents. For me, my parents were still alive, so it was someone I didn't know except in pictures.

The Fourth Hokage.

If I'd had more time to think, I would have wondered why Kakashi didn't come to me or someone else like him. I was too shocked and scared when the man first approached, though, so I'd merely gone mutely with him when he'd held out his hand, smiling Naruto's smile, and said quietly, "It's time."

The world disappeared in a fall of black, like cherry blossoms scattering in the wind. The forest landscape vanished, and it was replaced with something light and pretty. Sakura trees were planted on either side of the path, forming a walkway to a distant village.

The Fourth let go of me as soon as we landed, looking as if he was ready to go off again. I reached my hand out, terrified still like the little girl I had been.

"Wait!" I cried, "What do I do? Where do I go? Why did you come pick me up? Do…are you going to see Naruto?" I had too many questions and too little time, and already the Fourth was fading. His blue eyes were kind, so like Naruto's, and something burst in me. I wasn't even a week dead and already I was yearning for the living world.

"It isn't his time yet," was all the Fourth said. "I will go pick up my son when he is ready, and not before."

Then he shimmered away completely, leaving empty, beautiful scenery in his place.

I had probably stood there, dumbfounded, for a good ten or so minutes more. Naruto had told me that his father was Minato not long before I died; he probably wanted to share his secret with someone, and the look in his eyes was glowing and proud. I would be proud too if I had Naruto as a son, and I hoped Minato was.

What roused me from my daze, longing for the real world the whole time, was the sound of thunder. Well, not exactly thunder, but close enough—it was dozens and dozens of feet pounding the dirt path toward me.

Confused and scared—what if he had left me in Hell, and this was just a strange cover-up?—I'd backed away, ready to run.

I had no chance to do that, however, because the first person who rushed over the hill was Kakashi.

It had seemed so long since I had last seen my—our—sensei, but he hadn't changed one bit, while I had most likely aged some. War does that to people. But no, he didn't look different at all; book in hand, cheery smile on his face, looking more carefree than all the years I'd seen him. A black-haired man, almost a boy, was by his side with goggles on his face; a short-haired girl with markings on her face was on his other side. Were these his teammates?

"Sakura! You've come," Kakashi said, looking regretful for an instant. Then his face brightened again. "How do you like the afterlife? Isn't it nice?"

I peered around me, taking in everything. It indeed was very nice, beautiful, gorgeous, but there was a lack of warmth. A lack of the people _I knew_, a lack of the friendship I'd come to take for granted. "W…What do I do now?" I whispered.

"You're confused," he stated, "but that's normal. Come with me. I'll explain everything, and then we wait." He held out his hand, and I took it shakily. Over the course of the next day, Kakashi managed to fill me in on everything I needed to know. Before you ask, it's classified, so I can't tell you; but trust me, there's nothing to fear. Being dead isn't as scary as everyone makes it out to be, and I was no longer scared after Kakashi's kind words.

I think the part I hated most about the afterlife was the waiting, though. Definitely the waiting.

I had been patient when I was alive, true. That was small patience, though, nothing compared to the large amount of waiting I had to suffer here. It wasn't boredom either. I would never get bored with the amount of games, inventions, books, activities and more they had just lying around in the afterlife, but that terrible nervousness gnawed at me day and night. I would always be wondering if—when—Naruto or Sasuke would appear. I would always hope desperately they would appear, then berate myself terribly when I wished that. Why did I _want _them to die?

They deserve to live. They deserve to be remembered forever, and to live is to create history. So I had to learn to be patient all over again, waiting out each minute that passed with the utmost detail.

Isn't it strange how, only when death has taken you, can you live your life to the fullest?

I think it's because even though your mind knows you will never die again, dying once was enough to plant that fear in your mind. Oh yes, fears still exist here. Even nightmares, but that's not something I'll go through now. Anyway, dying once makes you fear dying again, forcing you to live your life as if there was no tomorrow. Many of the children act like that, or so I've noticed. The older generation, not so much.

Look at me now, I'm being so sentimental! Being dead really changes people, I can tell you that. Did I ever bother reflecting on all my sins, my wrongs like this?

Although, maybe it's only because I have nothing else to do but yearn and wait. It doesn't matter.

That, though, is one burden that will remain with me forever: the things I've done wrong.

There are so many too. I was a burden for so long, never trying to pick myself up and actually do some good. I was so annoying, blinded by a stupid, foolish love that even now I can't let go of. I've cursed Sasuke beyond my grave, it seems. I was ignorant, cruel even to Naruto. I don't think I ever showed him how much I truly care about him, depend on him; that I regret very much. I'll have to remedy that when he arrives, right?

I'll have to correct much when Naruto and Sasuke come. But those are my mistakes, so I will be the one to burden them and I will be the one to change them. I will be the one to make things better…to make Team 7 whole again.

Ha, that reminds me! I was supposed to be talking about Team 7 when Kakashi asked me to do this, wasn't I? But instead I've changed to rambling on about my misdeeds and my story. I suppose though; talking about me _is _talking about Team 7, isn't it?

It is.

I never said I was _always _nice! I'm not always all heavy on the angst either. I like to have fun too, you know? Oh, well, my time is almost up anyway. But before I let you go, I want to tell you one last thing, so listen well!

Nothing ever ends. No matter where you are, what has happened, nothing will ever sever a bond just as nothing will ever end. There is always something _more_ waiting for you, so though it might seem to the ones still living in the harsher world called reality that the ones who they love are gone forever, the glue that keeps them together will no longer stay… I wish I could tell them not to worry; to keep living their lives and wait for the day when we all are together once more. For the day when we all are whole, when Team 7 is once again inseparable and strong.

I can't do anything, of course, where I am now. I can't change the past or the present and certainly not the future, which makes me realize just how little influence humans have in the presence of fate. Yet, I don't care. The only wish I know now, among the constant soothing flow of time, is for Naruto and Sasuke to live. Stay strong. Realize what they really want, accomplish their dreams.

I want them to live for Team 7 and all that we could've been.

I want to believe in them with all my heart.

I _will _believe in them.

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><p>"<em>I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word! That's my nindō: my ninja way!"<em>

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><p>I died like I wanted to—with a bang.<p>

Well, it just made sense, you see? If I had come into the world during a war and the attack on the village, then led such an angst-ridden, lonely, adventurous, crazy and totally unbelievable life, I should go out of that world with an equally explosive exit. So I did just that.

Now before you begin to guess all the possible ways I could've died—how interesting that would be though—I'll tell you it was after the war, after the old hag retired, after I was made Hokage, but before I became an old man…and I was very happy for that, I assure you. Can you imagine _me_, number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja being an old geezer like ero-sannin used to be?

Although not half as perverted. I toned it down for the kids who looked up to me, though I admit Konohamaru still has some good poses—but that's not the point!

As much fun as it would be telling you about the later years of my life, I promised Sakura I wouldn't do that until I at least went over the Team 7 basics and all that… Hey, don't give me that look. She's going to punch me if I don't! And bruises last just as long here, unfortunately, as they do in reality. She sure hasn't lost any strength…

Especially when she learned I hadn't died peacefully like she and Kakashi apparently wanted me to. Well, what can I do about my death? Only fate can change something like that! Besides, I'm here with them, and that's all that matters in the end.

All my life, I've been the odd one out. The troublemaker, you know, the loser who can't do anything right. The one who's never at the top of his class; no, he's the one at the bottom who struggles even to try and complete his homework. The one who can't even do a transformation jutsu. Well, all that's not entirely correct I suppose. I _was _the odd one out for so long. Even in Team Seven, I wasn't half as strong as Sasuke (though my willpower totally beat his) and I didn't have half of Sakura's genius (though I prefer to think of it as my own way of slyness) and I definitely did not have Kakashi's strength/genius/power combined. There's a reason he was our sensei.

I was always the odd one out. Dobe, usuratonkachi, moron, you name it. But the one thing I'd always kept was my stubbornness. My pride. I needed acknowledgment, I craved it, I wanted _friends. _Someone to call my best friend.

And I found all that and so much more in Team 7.

I found a family. The family I'd never had.

So you see, Team 7 is more important to me than almost anything. I still wanted to be Hokage, for that was the dream that kept me going behind everything—I wanted to protect the village I loved. But there were other important things I also wanted to accomplish, like keeping the team that had welcomed me, accepted me, together. I wanted to bring Sasuke home.

Team 7 has taught me everything I know. Teamwork, how to care, loyalty, even the will of fire. Without Team 7, _I _would be nothing.

But if a single member of Team 7 was missing, _we _would be nothing.

It felt wrong when Sasuke left. Just plain dead wrong. Sakura was understandably devastated, but I chose to get stronger; for her sake and for mine _(for Team 7's) _we had to do all we could to retrieve Sasuke and bring him home.

For three long years, Sakura and I trained. I'd like to say we both grew mentally and physically, but I think Sakura is the true idol for that statement. She grew strong enough that Sasuke couldn't ever hurt her again.

We went on countless missions all in the name of the bastard who left us. I can't remember them all, but the first time we saw Sasuke again is unforgettable. He'd changed, no longer the teammate we knew, but… the same tiny little hope that he could be saved lingered inside that black soul. That was what Sakura, Kakashi, and I aimed for.

Hit and runs were the course of our paths after that. We met again. We left again. We clashed. We ran. Kakashi died. Sakura and I continued our mad chase—chasing nothing but everything at the same time, even though one of our team was gone.

Sakura died, and I felt broken. I was the only one left in Konoha from the original Team 7, and it simply felt wrong. The war was still going on, but our side was clearly winning: Madara was almost captured, or whoever that man was, and everyone could sense victory in the air.

Then the surprise attack came.

To say the least, it devastated Konoha on a scale that ranked ten when compared to Pein's. Sakura had been buried not a month ago and already we were experiencing a trauma that needed all the medics it could get, for Sasuke decided to attack.

Well, not solo, even he knew that would be suicide. Madara launched a bomb on the rest of us, joining with his huge army of White Zetsus. Konoha was busy for quite a while after that; even if I have the time, I couldn't tell you all the details that happened. It was the chaotic, bloody, dark, a mess of fighting and just random running for your life kind of thing.

Sasuke escaped again, when it was clear Madara was losing. I think that point was where we started the end of the war. Within weeks, we'd overpowered him and then the war was done. Just like that. Over. One of the most terrible experiences of my lifetime, the thing that had taken so much from me, vanished in a flash.

It was then the aftereffects hit me, I think.

I'd been forced to put away my feelings when Kakashi and Sakura died—except to use them in anger when I'd heard, unleashing quite a few explosions—but now, they were free game. I remember being curled up in a ball in a corner in the woods, just feeling… numb. _I'm all alone again, _was all I could think. _Everyone's left me._

That wasn't true. Exactly three days later, Tsunade marched out into the woods and dragged me away by my ear (and by God, if Sakura has monster-strength, I don't know what kind of inhuman superpowers Tsunade has) and yelled at me for a whole hour. "Don't do your whole self-pity thing! It's not worth it! Live and remember them. Live for them!"

And right after she'd finished blasting my eardrums out, she told me that she was retiring. Going on some trip with Shizune or something, and she was getting old after the war. Oh, of course Tsunade would still be the gracious diplomat and ambassador and all that, but I would be the one with the paperwork.

Her laugh was quite evil.

I suspect Tsunade had a hand in all this. As the days flipped by faster than I could count—all in a blur of ceremonies, dealing with the Council, treaties, truces, and especially the god-damn paperwork—I began to forget.

Well, maybe that's not the best way to describe it. They (Team 7) were always on my mind, lingering the background, but they were no longer screaming at me for causing them to die. They were just waiting now. Smiling. Saying, "Whenever you're ready, we'll be here to welcome you home." I spent an appropriate amount of time at the memorial every three days, nothing like Kakashi's time-wasting meetings. Sometimes I would bring their favorite foods, other times I would simply sit and talk.

I never felt regret for them again, though. I learned to forgive. I learned to move on.

Somewhere inside I still wanted to reunite Team 7. I spent time with the strategy corps (Shikamaru had completely taken over after Shikaku retired) and even tried to make amends with the Council. I hung out with my old rookie friends in BBQ restaurants and signed autographs for adoring little boys and girls in the Academy; I helped Konoha and nourished it, letting it grow after the shocks of war. It was like watching a meadow grow back from a fire. We rose from the ashes, as strong as ever before.

But even though I used so much of my energy elsewhere, I never forgot. I couldn't. Whenever notices concerning Sasuke popped up, I would send someone out to look into it. I even avenged Kakashi and Sakura's death, albeit very late.

I never brought Sasuke home. That is perhaps my biggest regret.

I think I realized though, in my mind somewhere, that we could only meet again after death. Sasuke could no longer run from us after he was _dead_! The idiot would be forced to come home; return to Team 7. Return to the team that had grown so much on all of us, the one that had changed us for the better.

Well, now you've heard most of my life story after the war. I guess it's time for the grand finale, isn't it? How I died?

It was in, of course, a fight. What else do you expect from me, the Hokage who would do anything just to save the people he loved? I am loyal, more than anything else. And so I died, protecting my village.

Ironically, it was not from Sasuke.

It was from me.

The Kyuubi had grown quiet over the years. Docile, almost—okay, maybe that's going too far. But he wasn't quite as evil, quite as malicious as he had been in my teenage years; some part of him had accepted me… or so I thought.

One day, without warning, the demon decided to revolt. I remember the pain the most, actually. The clear ringing sounds reverberating through my bones as my every fiber tried to prevent the Nine-tails from taking over; the screaming that came from _me _as I resisted; my nails digging deep, too deep, into my own skin. I lashed out at anyone who came near, but not because of the Kyuubi, it was because I wanted to keep them safe. Safe from me, the Hokage that had come to cherish. Safe from a monster.

Not only the physical pain though. The pain of knowing that I was hurting them flashed through me, again and again. There would be no mother or father to save me this time, I realized. I had to pull through it on my own.

So I did just that.

An excruciating amount of time later… it was over.

I never learned why the Kyuubi decided to revolt. I'll have to ask my dad about that—my dad! Can you believe he's really _my dad_—ah, I get it. Save the enthusiasm for later and all that.

I managed to stop him from destroying my home though. Even though it cost me my life, at least I died a hero, right? Like my dad. _(Dad!) _The last moments of my life were so clear, I could see everything brighter than I had for years. Hinata's tears, the color of translucent, shiny pearls; Shikamaru's face showing concern despite everything; Lee pushing at me to get through it. The congratulations of somehow sealing the Kyuubi away _(forever, _I had thought satisfactorily) before they grasped that something was wrong, too wrong. And then all I saw were tears, bright drops of their soul, crying for me, the unloved child.

If Sakura had been there, maybe she would have saved me. Or Tsunade. But both were away and gone, so it didn't matter. They couldn't blame themselves for something I chose. I remember smiling once, saying something (probably profound, according to Kakashi) and then everything became dark.

Now here's the part where you might get confused. Sakura and Kakashi will both talk about lingering in the mortal plane after their deaths; understandable, but that's not what happened to me! I was transported straight to the afterlife's paradise, deposited neatly in the middle of a giant room with the coolest orange wallpaper and gold trimming and ramen boxes piled neatly in the corner—

Erhm, that might be revealing too much.

But anyway, I'll tell you Sakura is a _scary woman _when she's been waiting too long. Kinda like a pregnant woman times ten. I think her hug crushed most of my bones. She says there's no such thing as injuries in the afterlife.

_She's wrong._

What was that? You ask if I'm happy now?

Well, I am. Somewhat. Materialistically, I have everything I want, everything I ever dreamed for. I have bonds; Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sakura, even old baa-chan finally came.

A small part of me still isn't satisfied though. I was assured Konoha was safe after I died, but that isn't what I'm longing for, what I feel so much _regret _for. So I spend the days waiting, lingering, hoping to make time pass by faster so I could see that one person again, finally fulfill that promise I'd made to a certain scary pink-haired woman so long ago.

No matter how long I had to wait, I vowed, I would make true on that promise. I would complete Team 7 again. I would make something that had been broken for far too long whole again.

And one day I did.

After all, that's _my _ninja way.

To never give up. To never run away. To hold your ground no matter what.

To believe in your promises.

* * *

><p>"<em>If you think I'm just a foolish kid ruled by his emotions, that's fine. Following Itachi's path would be childish, the whispering of fools who don't know hatred. If anyone else tries to ridicule the way I live, I'll slaughter everyone they ever cared about. And then maybe they'll understand what it's like to taste… a little of my hatred."<em>

* * *

><p>I had always lived in the dark.<p>

Even when light was offered to me, I blindly refused it with all the impudence of one who only knows revenge. Even now, the temptation is hard to resist; my eyes—those red, bloody eyes—still are dragged to that one road calling to me. But what can I do in the afterlife? What can I accomplish?

And that is the stupidity of it all. I can't do a thing.

It makes me angry; I could never control my temper well. My emotions, yes, but anger is such a provocative emotion. It served me, fed me power under its thrall.

Simply put, the afterlife is a terrible, horrible place. Whatever Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto told you, they were lying. If you think not being able to accomplish any of your dreams is a good thing, then I'm wrong. But for me? It's pure torture.

I can't escape them anymore, just as I cannot run any longer. It makes me sick to call myself a coward, yet essentially, somewhere inside me, that's what I am. It is a coward not to face the people who I might have, once upon a time, tentatively labeled as friends. It is a coward who cannot even find his own brother in the afterlife, the one thing I had perhaps looked forward to.

Redeem myself, you wonder? Unlikely, if ever. Kill him? Impossible, he's already dead. I don't know what I would want to meet Itachi again for, but whatever it is, I won't know.

But… perhaps…

There is something in me that is finally letting go.

For so long, the only thing I was aware of was red and the desire to kill. To avenge, to destroy, to seek vengeance on those who had ruined my life—ruined me. I _know _I didn't make friends; why make bonds only to break them via death later? I _know _I was cold and ruthless and utterly merciless, without a heart; isn't that what they taught us to be? I _know_ I left the only thing that could have (would have) brought me good, brought me light in this dark life of mine—Team 7—for power; revenge was the only solid thing I knew in my life, so why shouldn't I chase after it?

You cannot make judgments on people you don't know, just as you cannot make them based off a one-sided story. If you had lived my life, wouldn't you have done the same as me? If you had my personality, what would you have done?

Hn, there's that idiot again. Naruto, banging on the door and demanding for me not to scare you away. Why _are _you still here?

It doesn't matter, I suppose. All I have to do is get my life story over with and explain myself, according to Sakura. Easy enough.

When I was younger, my life was easy. Ridiculously simple, full of days chasing after my older brother and begging him to help me train. Even back then, I was already pathetically trying to catch up to him, reaching out in some vain attempt to close the wall between us that he himself built. I can't say I will ever know what went through his head, what propelled him to act like this and make me go for revenge, but I won't regret it. It has made me what I am, and that is how I will be.

And then, of course, the infamous massacre happened. I was left stranded and alone (although you didn't hear that from me) and unwilling to reach out anymore. Unwilling to get hurt anymore.

Sakura and Naruto, pacifists and loyal fools they are, would probably go on and on about how much they cherished Team 7, how much it formed all of us, how much it changed _me. _And maybe a little part of it did. However, I am not a sap, and I will not go into detail about whatever 'emotions' I might have.

The time with Team 7 mended me a bit, a tiny, tiny bit. You wouldn't understand though when I say the lure of power was stronger; _Orochimaru's _lure was stronger than whatever Konoha might hold for me. I decided to follow a path of hate.

I split from Team 7. Oh, you should have seen them when they tried to stop me. I was grateful, in some twisted kind of way, of all the things they had done for me—they had taught me that maybe, one day far off, bonds could be permitted. They had also taught me loyalty, and I used that loyalty to stay firm to the cause I threw myself at.

Do I seem pompous to you? Arrogant, cold, a complete fool for leaving Konoha? Do I seem idol-worthy? Someone to be looked up to for doing what their mind told them to?

Well, I am none of those. If you asked me to describe myself, I can't say what I am. If you asked me if I have walls around me, I can't tell, because there's nobody I keep close enough to break them down. So does that make me a blank slate in all of this?

Maybe. Orochimaru took 'control' of me—or rather, he tried to. He attempted to control me and my actions, use me as a weapon, but he never once thought that I would try and break away; that I _did _try and broke away. That is what becomes of people such as him and Konoha. They think that all their ninjas are completely loyal to them, that they would lay down their lives without a second's thought. They never think about those _tools _that they use and if they had feelings of their own.

So I revolted, leaping away with only one goal in mind: slay Itachi. Of course, it took me so much longer to find him, and then when I finally killed him, what did I learn? He wasn't even killing my family for pettiness. He had killed them to protect Konoha, the very thing I'd turned my back on.

In a somewhat blind fit of rage (that lasted for quite a while) I joined Madara and vowed revenge on Konoha. If not for stealing my brother, then corrupting my clan and convincing them to plan a coup d'état. It didn't matter that it wasn't _really _Konoha's fault. All I had to do was believe it was, and there was my new ambition.

I never fulfilled it, to say the least.

The rage that gripped me never let go, that's for sure, and no amount of pleading or threatening on any of Team 7's behalf did a thing for me. In fact, Kakashi gave up and so did Sakura, though she could never bring herself to kill me; if that's what love brings, weakness and a lack of resolve, then I will never fall in love.

But Naruto. Naruto, the stupid moron with all his stubbornness refused to give up. He recognized I would never return, so he said he would fight me—but then, that never came to fruition either. Maybe it would have been too nice if we died by each other's swords, and one day, I discovered Naruto had gone just as Kakashi and Sakura had before him. I was the last remaining Team 7 member in the living world, and yet, I was the first to leave it. Wasn't that just ironic?

For a good two years after that, I was left without a purpose.

Destroying Konoha no longer mattered as much as it once did. Itachi, in his edo-tensai form, had stalked me, explained to me, and tried to convince me. In return, I killed him. I was doing him a favor, I said, and to this moment I don't disagree. I don't think Itachi disagreed either. His expression was peaceful when he died; not long after, I killed Kabuto.

I'll be frank, not that I ever wasn't. The notion to commit suicide crossed my mind more than once. I was no longer wanted on this plane, no longer needed. I was nothing more than some ghost, forgotten and not minded, dangerous but no longer needed to be kept on tight surveillance. Who was I, if I was nothing?

And yet, something made me stay in that half-cursed, half-blessed world. Lingering like a lost soul, I wandered the lands and killed when necessary; no longer quite the avenger I was before, nor the merciless destroyer of Konoha. I didn't know what I was, and for the first time in my life, anonymity suited me fine.

Of course, it was then—when I was _finally _getting used to life without blood, tears, or a perverted gray-haired teacher and a strong-willed, pink-haired kunoichi or a moronic but powerful idiot—I had to die.

Unlike the others, I will not tell you the details of my death. It is not as important as the rest of my story is; in fact, if I had to pick (if I _had _to) I would say the afterlife is the better part of my life. Not that I prefer this place, but it is definitely… more peaceful. Soothing. A change from the reckless pace my life had been set on, that Itachi had set for me.

I had finally changed to a different path, a calmer one that wasn't riddled with as much potholes and obstacles. Somewhere along the way between Team 7 and Orochimaru and Madara and their deaths, I'd met multiple forks in the road. Go one way, I can still redeem myself. The other, a life of hatred and darkness. Every single time, I chose the latter, until one time—and what's frustrating is that I can't pinpoint when. Maybe I woke up one morning and just decided to change. Maybe it was just the course of destiny. Either way, the path I am on now is as different as any other path I'd been on before.

Just because you're in the afterlife (paradise, you wish) doesn't mean there aren't consequences. You can still choose to do things, actions that will condemn you and send you to a darker place. Hell, if you may.

I was certain I'd be sent to that place when I died. Opening my eyes between one second and the next, my life and the afterlife, it was pitch black. A wild keening had been in the air (or maybe it was just in my ears) and my chakra rushed through the veins in my eyes, trying to activate my Sharingan and see something—anything. But there was nothing, and that was the worst part of it all. For someone with ocular powers, being blind is often the worst fate one can bestow.

I had completely resigned myself to the darkness—_I started out in it, after all, so why shouldn't I spend forever in it?—_when suddenly, a bright light shone. Completely sappy, but I followed it anyway.

And what do I see on the other side?

Nothing but Team 7, smiling and waiting and holding out their hands to me. All different ages, but age has never mattered before and it never would now. No physical, mental, or figurative boundary will ever stop the bonds that have formed between us all; I realized that a little too late. Nothing I could ever have done would have broken the ties formed through life-and-death, companionship, _learning_.

Team 7 was what I had been waiting for my whole life. Yet it was only when I was dead did I finally reunite with the team that had taught me everything…everything important, that is. It was only then did I remember that I had never abandoned Team 7; we had merely parted ways for a brief period of time, and now we were here again, unbreakable and strong. Ready to try once more. Ready to face whatever obstacles we have to.

So I took their hands and we left, because there was nothing more to say than that, just as I have nothing more to say to you. I hope you listened well, because I am not repeating myself all over again...

Oh wait. They're all clamoring at me, so bear with me a little longer as I say this:

All my life I've known hatred, darkness, shadows and tears. Blood stained my eyes, blinding me temporarily to all the good that could've healed me.

Yet throughout all this, what is there for me? What can I lean on? I don't know why I answer this, but the only thing that comes to mind is Team 7.

I was filled with hatred, ready to deal misery on anyone's life who tried to ridicule mine, and yet…yet, what has it all come down to? What has all our petty doings in reality come to in the afterlife? Nobody judges here. It's oddly peaceful, coming from someone who has been watched his whole life.

All that hatred just disappeared somewhere, dissolved by the atmosphere indescribable with mere words that exists here. And then, finally, I found the peace I had been looking for ever since my clan was slaughtered. I found the acceptance I had only dreamed of.

I don't exactly know what we became, the team that started out dysfunctional and completely crazy. How a somewhat unserious pervert with a side of Sharingan and a strange, opaque past worked with the hated child—the demon child, the Kyuubi child—that hosted his own set of pain and a stuck-up, arrogant kid who only knew revenge (but knew solitude and loneliness so very well too) and the seemingly perfect, if slightly annoying fangirl with a deeper personality hidden behind her mask; how we all worked together to create Team 7 as it is today is beyond me.

But as it turns out, I also don't really care.

We are a whole because all of us are here. All of us _want_ to be here, after so many years of waiting and hiding and running. We have all finally found a place we belong.

On Team 7.

* * *

><p><strong>So that's done! Whoa, tremendously long, isn't it? Hehe, for me at least :D Did you like it? Was it satisfactory, or did I make too many mistakes? Let me know in a review, cuz I will really appreciate it! :3 <strong>

**Notes on Death as I was working on it: This took me over a month to complete, with an extra long hiatus stuck somewhere in the middle. Sasuke's was by far the hardest to complete, probably because the plot bunny decided to go chew on something else by the time I got to him. Sorry if his part lacks quality :/ And if you haven't guessed the theme of Death by now, it starts with Team and ends with 7. Get it? Haha?**

**So after this raging plot bunny is gone, I have nothing left to write but Dark Angel *flops backwards* Except I might be posting a collab fic sooner rather than later :D with Oblivion's Demon! Maybe. And possibly another person's work, but I'll decide later. So for now, once again, Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate, and happy holidays to everyone else!**

**Please review! And thanks for reading ^.~**

***~gummybear1620~***


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